For such a small and well hidden organ, the pituitary gland is the victim of a remarkable number of diverse pathologies. The ancients believed that it secreted phlegm, which flowed through the cribriform plate into the nasopharynx. It was not until the 17th century that Richard Lower, an early fellow of the Royal Society, speculated that its function was to connect the brain with the circulation. Pituitary disorders (A F Krisht and G T Tindall, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, $165, ISBN …